Zun Style And Bian Style

The study on drama stylistics in Ming and Qing Dynasty draws a lot of attentionof scholars.Guo Yingde's A Study On Legendary Drama stylistics In Ming and QingDynasty is a representative one.This essay tries to research the developing history ofthe legendary drama in Ming and Qing Dynasty from the angle of Zun Style and BianStyle.This article not only shows the characteristics of Zun Style and Bian Style,butalso analyses how these two styles influenced the development of the legendarydrama in Ming and Qing dynasty.The two styles interwoven and interacted with eachother in their development and their relationship with each other also influenced thelegendary drama in Ming and Qing Dynasty becoming a vital motive force.On the study of stylistics of the legendary drama in Ming and Qing Dynasty,thisessay will be divided into four chapters:Chapter one is the Zun Style in Chinese Literature.It is very common for ZunStyle and Bian Style in the development of Chinese ancient literary styles,such as Ci,drama and novel etc.Chapter two is The Rising of Zun Style in Legend from the End of Yuan to theMiddle of Ming Dynasty.The first combination of Zun Style and Bian Style appearedin Gao Ming's The Story of the Lute which is a frontier of the legendary drama inMing and Qing Dynasty.The Story of the Lute emphasized the function of moralteaching of drama,and was welcomed and praised by the ruling class in early MingDynasty.At the same time,the Bian Style was coming into being in the SouthernDrama,for example,the dramatic structure and tunes which were imitated by latergenerations.The moral teaching function and literary grace have been highly thoughtsince Qiu Rui and Shao Can began to write the Southem Drama.Meanwhile the BianStyle was ignored by dramatists.Although Li Kaixian,He Liangjun and WangShizhen explored and discussed Bian Style,the Bian Style was still in a state ofunconsciousness which made Zun Style be overstated and brought an obstacle to thedevelopment of it.Moreover,these famous dramatists Zhu Youdun,Xu Wei,Li Zhi allclaimed the support of Zun Style,which also promoted the status of Zun Style.Chapter three is The Interaction of Zun Style and Bian Style in the End of Mingand the Beginning of Qing."The Dispute between Shen and Tang"opened the doorfor the interaction and maturing of Zun Style and Bian Style.The two styles thusdeveloped in its own ways separately.Some dramatists stressed the moral teaching of the legend drama from the drama's outer factors,such as Shen Jing,Bu Shichen,Wang Tingne and the SuZhou dramatists represented by Li Yu.They all emphasized"the theme of the drama should teach the audience moral".The others claimed the selfrepresentation of the dramatists,which embodied in three modes:feeling prioritymode,self expression mode and criticism mode.However,these dramatists such asShen Jing,Lv Tiancheng,Wang Jide and Li Yu etc.made effort on Bian Styleachieving the establishment of drama writing rules.At the same time,The disputebetween Shen and Tang also caused the reflection of the dramatists in late MingDynasty.Thus makes the interweaving of"Rule"and"Expression",achieving theinteraction of Zun Style and Bian Style.The dramatists such as Wu Bing,MengChengShun,Ruan Dacheng,Feng Menglong,Li Yu and Li Yu etc.brought theprosperity of Legend Drama in late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty,andforming the climax of"Southern Hong and Northern Kong".Zun Style and Bian Styleboth developed perfectly.Chapter four is The Change of Zun Style from the Middle to Late Qing Dynasty.After the"Southern Hong and Northern Kong",the Zun Style and Bian Styledisplaced again.The emphasize of moral teaching took a dominant status again andreached a summit under the promotion of Xia Guan,Jiang Shiquan,Dong Rong.Atthe same time,Bian Style became a bind or merged into other styles,which caused theLegend declining.In the late Qing Dynasty,Liang Qichao stressed the social andpolitical function of drama which caused Legend becoming a tool of some meaning.From the above history of legend drama,although Zun Style and Bian Styledeveloped separately,their interweaving and interaction became a vital motive for thedevelopment of legend drama.The study of this stylistics would be helpful to knowthe panorama of the development of legend drama in Ming and Qing Dynasty.